When I get days like that, I mentally postpone my birthday.
About husband 'forgetting' - he may have thought that you were already so miserable that he didn't want to remind you of yet one more reason to feel sorry for yourself. And if that's not the case - think how much capital you can make out of it when he remembers that he forgot! It should be good enough for a romantic dinner for two, even if it's just the Maccas car park!
Save your birthday until you're feeling well enough and husband isn't so exhausted. Let him know, ask him when is a good time to fit in with his shifts, to have your birthday instead.
I remember the first time I had to do this - easy child was a newborn, premmy baby and we'd just got home from the hospital. I was too tired to want to fuss, there was a local school fireworks display but I couldn't be bothered getting dressed to go out, especially on a cold night with a new baby. Part of me wanted the social occasion, though. And easy child had finally woken up and was demand-feeding constantly, from about 4 pm to 11 pm, feeding non-stop (left side, burp, right side, burp, left side, burp, right side, burp...and so on). She would then sleep for about three hours and wake for another feed at 2 am. Charming. Who wanted to be a mother?
So husband & I sat side-by-side in the dark, me still in my nightie (like I had been all day) and with easy child still swapping sides, we watched what we could see of the fireworks display above the trees. Then when it was all finished, we lit a candle, sat on the floor and ate takeaway Chinese right out of the plastic containers, like some sort of bizarre picnic (and easy child STILL feeding and swapping sides...).
There was another fringe benefit to keeping the light off - any visitors thought we were out, so I didn't get disturbed by people dropping in to find me still in my nightie, unzipped and feeding the baby. We had our own space, right when I needed it.
I think it was another three months before we tried to do anything more to celebrate.
Marg